Week 4 - Fourth Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hi Everyone!

Dave's had an extremely quiet week and is still in the recovery phase, he is still relying on PEGGY for his feeding to keep his nutrition up, though he is managing to drink small amounts of chicken broth each day.  His taste buds and salivary glands are still shot but he's optimistic they will get better sooner rather than later.  I do hope so!

Dave's also still sleeping in the media room in the recliner... I'm looking forward to him returning to me for snuggles soon!  Though, I have taken over our king size bed, so not sure where he will fit!!! :-)

I've also had a relatively quiet week.  Though, I did finally manage to plant out our veggie patch which I was most happy about on Monday... were looking forward to reaping the rewards of... baby beans, tomatoes, spring onions, leeks, spinach, parsley, chives, basil, thyme, carrots, sweet capsicum, rocket and coriander.  I still want to plant out some beetroot, radishes and zucchinis!!!

Fingers & toes crossed everything will grow!!!

My darling girlfriend, Kelly, gave us this sign years ago... its so apt here in the Hunter Valley!!!

Saturday was a gorgeous day and a great chance to get out for a little walk and for Dave & I to catch up & watch his buddies on the golf course, for the last three holes.... Brian, George, Don and Brian B.  Great to see you guys!!

One from our book... You are My "Once in a Lifetime" I will Always Love you by Marci

When you Need Encouragement, I'll Remind you of These Things...

You are stronger than you realise.  

Life's inevitable adversities call forth our courage.

You have a lot of wisdom inside you.

God's plan will unfold with perfect timing.

The voice of your soul will lead the way.

I love you with all my heart.

xxx

and, from my little pocket book... "Love is all you need"....

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.  

by Aristotle

Here's to another week getting closer for Dave to eat and taste food again!!

Love to you all and your families... stay safe and love each like no other!! xxx

Week 3 - Third Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hi Everyone

Hope you've all had a great week and that you're well and happy.

Dave and I have had a good week, both health wise and socially!!  Me healing up well after my fall and Dave getting stronger each day.

Tuesday was a very exciting day, as we got to see our wonderful girlfriend, my 'sister', Shannon who had just returned from her incredibly amazing three month honeymoon with Brian and catching up with the adorable Birthday girl Cathy for a coffee... Dave had to put up with us three girls gaggling away!!! He loved it!!!

Later that day another dear friend of ours, Sue, that we hadn't seen for ages popped in with dishes of yummy foods for me and a catch up with us both.

We met with the Radiation Oncologist on Thursday... he was very happy with Dave's progress and said he would like to see Dave again in six weeks time :-)  So next visit is on 8th December 2016.  Unfortunately, we won't know if all the treatment has worked until early in the New Year.  So have to continually think positive thoughts until then!!

The dietician was happy too that Dave has upped his Ensure TwoCal bottles now to five a day!  Dave's still not eating anything yet as the taste is just too awful still.  Though he has marginally enjoyed cups of chicken broth that I've made and he did manage a bowl of Miso Soup on Saturday.

The speech therapist has asked Dave to up his throat exercises, sometimes called shaker exercises, to help improve his swallow and to alleviate any issues down the track.  This helps lift your voice box, also called your larynx.  The exercise also helps lift the muscle called the esophageal sphincter at the top of the oesophagus or windpipe.

Afterwards we dashed to the train station to pick up Kay (sister-in-law) and Rebecca (Bex) our niece.
Later that afternoon enjoying a nice walk in the sunshine, and along the way bumping into a couple of our walking group friends... Frank where were you!!!

Dave, me, Tracy, Robert and Bex in the background :-) 

Dave also received a wonderful pic from Jono too, to cheer us up, of the three of them... such a cool pic :-)

Jono, Toby (8wks) and our daughter Kimberly :-) 

Quite a productive weekend too!!! Bex, Kay and I managed to re-stain our outdoor table & eight chairs, wash down both alfresco areas too... much needed jobs to get done... so feeling very accomplished.  Afterwards for our rewards visiting the local Smelly Cheese shop for a delicious gelato!! Thanks Bex and Kay for all your help over the weekend.  We even managed to pop out to the local handmade market on Saturday morning at De Bortoli cellar door, even though it was pouring with rain!! I was happy, as I bought our first grandchild a couple of Christmas presents!!!

Saturday was also a wonderful day as friends of ours from NZ, now living in Brisbane, were in the Hunter for a conference and were able to pop in for lunch to see us too :-) It was so great to see you Wendi and Rob.  Was awesome that you were able to return in the evening too to watch the All Blacks beat Australia in the final Bledisloe Cup.  Even though we, the girls sat chatting most of the night :-) Thanks for the wonderful lunch, gifts and great times, we look forward to our next catch up xxx

Rob, me, Wendi and Dave

me and Wendi (loves this pic)

Thanks also Bex and Kay for our wonderful pressies, we are going to save the Bunnings voucher to buy some plants for either inside or out.

Dave, Bex, Kay and me (love this pic too)

Onwards and upwards to the weeks ahead.

One from our book... You are My "Once in a Lifetime" I will Always Love you by Marci

There's Nothing We Can't Do... Together

We may not have always understood

the gift wrapped up in a greater plan.

Time has taught us about the bond of love.

We have learned together, sharing the good times and the bad,

and no matter what, there has always been love.

xxx

and, from my little pocket book... "Love is all you need"....

Because of a great love, one is courageous

by Lao Tzu

xxx

Week 2 - Second Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hi there again!!

Well we were hoping for a stress free relaxing week for both of us!!

I'll start with Dave as that's what this blog is all about in the main.

Dave in general has had a goodish week.  We met with the Oncology Registrar on Monday and he was happy with Dave's progress to date, along with the dietician and speech therapist, which is great news.

Sleeping... Dave's still in the media room in the lazy boy chair because he is still feeding via PEGGY over night and this is where he feels most comfortable slightly elevated.  By mid afternoon he starts to get quite tired but in general he is doing really well.

Medications.... Dave is still taking all his meds.  I was hoping to ween him off them a bit by now but the nausea is still lingering!! The pain is not as bad which is a bonus.

Skin... 95% cleared up on his neck area, he's still massaging in Sorbelene cream each day.  So this should also mean that the inside of his throat is healing too.  Dave does have a bit of lymphodema in his neck area which we are managing by massaging his neck to help move the blocked fluid build up back into his blood stream.

Eating/Swallowing.... Dave's swallow is now good and there is no pain.  He tried 150mls of chicken noodle cuppa soup on Tuesday which wasn't bad he said but couldn't finish it.  Wednesday he had a bit of a vomiting fit which upset his rhythm a bit.  I'm hoping to start him on liquid juices/soups soon.  Though his taste buds are still shot!! I made a big pot of clear chicken broth for him to enjoy when he's able to soon.

Talking.... Dave is now talking, which is great, as I don't feel like I'm having a conversation with myself all of the time now!!

Exercise... We have done a couple of little slow walks of 15-25 minutes but need to ensure we get out each day from now on if were able to, so we can get Dave's strength back to where it was.

So all in all Dave's not doing too bad :-)

I on the other hand went for a lovely walk with Sherry on Monday around 5.30pm until I then came a tumbling down / or was airborne till I did a skid landing!!! Thanks to contractors not finishing off their work properly and safely on the new golf course path here at The Vintage!!!  Sherry tried to catch me to no avail!! A call to Les to come and collect us in the golf buggy, but then Sherry had the buggy keys, so Les had to hot wire the buggy to come fetch us!! Go Les!! I walked in the door and said to Dave I've had a bit of an accident... he just looked at me!!! I had thought my wrist/hand was broken as it was so painful so Sherry took me to A&E to get it x-rayed!! I was so so thankful it wasn't, just badly sprained/bruised.  It put me out of action for a couple of days but there's no holding me back when I have a job to do looking after Dave!! I've also been massaging Deep Blue from Doterra into my shoulder, neck, hand, knee and legs with Fractionated Coconut Oil which has been helping immensely.  Thanks so much Sherry and Les for looking after us both!!

bottom two photos is the wooden strip I tripped over!

Dave, Les and Sherry - the Forensic Squad!

The next day we went back to check out the crime scene, above is the forensic squad...

I managed a trip to the chemist and the supermarket on Friday, thanks to a wonderful friend, Lyn for taking me, and enjoying a coffee & cake with me too.  Really enjoyed my outing :-) xxx

Well that's our week... here's to week three of Dave's recovery, with no dramas!!! Please, please no dramas!!!

Next week we visit the Oncology Registrar, Speech & Dietician on Thursday, as well as looking forward to picking up Kay our Sister-in-law and Niece, Rebecca who are visiting us for a few days from NZ for a bit of TLC and girlie catch up.

A continuing thank you to everyone for all your messages of support we still need them and still take lots of comfort and strength from them.  Hope your all doing ok out there in that big wide world.  Love n Hugs to you all xoxo

From my little pocket book... "Love is all you need"....

There's no substitute

for a great love who says,

'No matter what's wrong with you,

you're welcome at this table.

by Tom Hanks

xxx

And one from our book... You are My "Once in a Lifetime" I will Always Love you by Marci

Our Love Just Gets Better All The Time

When I first fell in love with you, I thought nothing could be better.

But I have found that time has given us a richer and deeper love...

a love that comes with a sense of pride and satisfaction.

It's not just the good things we've shared that make our love what it is,

but the rewards we get from navigating the obstacles in our journey

and arriving at a stronger relationship. 

My life is so much more than I could have ever imagined

because you are in it..

you are the other half of my heart,

my partner in life, and my best friend.

xxx

Week 1 - First Week of Recovery - Post Radiotherapy/Chemotherapy Treatment

Hi Everyone!!

Yay no more radiotherapy for Dave!!!

Now were on the road to recovery :-)

This last week has been really lovely not having to get ready and drive in to hospital every day for treatment!!

We did make one trip on Tuesday morning so Dave could have a follow up with the specialist, nurse, dietician and speech therapist.  The specialist was really happy with Dave's progress and gave him a pep talk that the next couple of weeks won't be pleasant, but that he was nearly at the end of this awful process and that he was doing really well.

The nurse cleaned and re-dressed his neck with soothing Flamazine and a special cooling gauze especially for burns.

The dietician was happy with Dave's progress, in fact, Dave actually put on a little bit of weight this last week, with all his fluids and feeds so that was a bonus!!  In total, Dave has lost around 7kgs. He's looking very trim... just needs a bit of work now to create a six pack!!

The speech therapist was also happy with how Dave was going but will be working more closely with Dave down the track once he starts to talk again.  The speech therapist will help Dave with specific exercises because he hasn't been using his neck, tongue, throat muscles much of late!

Exercise regime!

Dave has had a relatively goodish week.  Though middle of the week he had an exceptionally bad night with coughing and a feeling of being choked constantly when he was laying down in the lazyboy chair!!! This is due to all the mucous membranes working overtime in his mouth.  We spent some of the early hours walking around our home and me massaging his back to ease the discomfort.  He now has to sit upright to sleep at night at the moment, which I must say is helping a lot.  Friday night was the first night Dave's had a comfortable night asleep, though he did wake up once.

The hourly meds and fluids regime is working well too, thankfully!!!  We did have, well I did, a moment of hilarity at one point!!! Dave just looked at me with a smirky smile on his face!!! You see, I was dispensing 20mls of gaviscon liquid into the 60ml syringe and then gradually pushing the syringe up to actually gauge how much I had in the syringe ready for Dave to administer into PEGGY... then all of a sudden it just exploded all over the kitchen ceiling!!!! I could be rude and express what it really looked like but I will leave that up to your imaginations!!!  I then had to climb on top of the kitchen bench and wipe the ceiling down... thankfully it didn't leave any marks!! Sorry forgot to take any photos in the moment of shock, hilarity and cleanup!!

I must say Dave has been the most amazing patient, from the start of all this when he had his tonsils out, then his four molars removed then throughout all the radiotherapy & chemo sessions, his resilience, determination and power of mindful thinking is getting him through this awful disease!! He has hardly complained throughout the whole process!!  Thanks for being a great patient my luv xxx

Oh and on a plus note we had our new/replacement wine fridge delivered and old one removed :-)  Thank you Delonghi and East Lake Refrigeration!!

Today, Sunday, Dave's skin on his neck is looking and feeling good now and he said the pain in his throat when swallowing has almost gone.  He was able to talk a tiny bit today too as the mucous is also not as bad today either and that he's feeling better as each day passes.

We had a lovely visit from Sherry & Les today too.  Sherry has kindly lent us their juicing machine for when Dave starts on liquids, which will be soon I hope!! Can't wait to get lots of veggie juice goodness into him!! Thanks Sherry and Les :-), and thanks a million Les for spraying all our weeds in the paving areas... your the best!!! Sunday was such a lovely day it got me motivated to weed our garden too in between each hour of giving Dave his meds and water flushes!

Anyone got any good juice recipes they swear by?

I'll be doing lots of research on whats good, i.e., ginger, tumeric, beetroot, spinach etc.

I also forgot to thank my girlfriend Suzie Q and Gordon, who weeks ago sent a wonderful Tin Tin Comic book over for Dave too, to read "The Red Sea Sharks"... thanks Sue he loves it xxx

Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts to everyone for your constant words of encouragement on Facebook, private messages, phone calls, texts, support and love.... we both really really appreciate each and everyone of them and you xxx

Onwards and upwards to week two of recovery... next week, Monday Dave has his weekly catch up with the Oncology specialist, dietician, speech therapist along with an appointment with our local GP on Tuesday.

"All you need is love,

But a little chocolate now

and then doesn't hurt."

by Charles M. Schulz

xxx 

End of Week 7 - Last Week of Radiotherapy!!!

Wow what a week!!! This week certainly put us both through the ringer!!!

We did get a win though.... in regards to our wine fridge... Delonghi are now providing us with a brand new wine fridge in replacement :-) Thank you so much!! I had to get a mate of ours Steve to come and pull the old one out so I could find the serial number to send to the service provider!! Steve is so strong we didn't even have to empty the fridge first!!! Go Stevie xxx Cheers Mate your a lifesaver!!

The beginning of the week started off ok'ish for Dave... but the rest just went down hill again!!! By Wednesday he was in so much burning pain in his stomach due to the acid reflux.  He also wasn't managing to intake much feed through his PEG either which didn't help as his stomach was empty and the acid in his stomach didn't have anything to work with!!  Vicious circle!!

Took Dave in for his daily treatment on Wednesday and to see his specialist... it was really touch and go whether Dave was going to be able to tolerate his radiotherapy as he was unable to lay down cause of the reflux, vomiting, dry reaching and gagging in his throat!!! First thing the specialist did was organise for IV fluids, pain relief and nausea meds to be administered straight away.  I dashed up the road to buy a bottle of Gaviscon to see if that could help too as the hospital pharmacy didn't stock it!!

Really not feeling well at all!!! 

Dave's skin has started to react to the radiotherapy treatment too... with 33 sessions now received his skin is now breaking up just like severe sunburn, hence the neck bandage... I said he looked like a Vicar!!! The left photo below where it looks black is the dried up Flamazine cream, which contains silver sulfadiazine - its to prevent infection in severe burns.  The photo on the right is where the tape pulled his skin off!!!

We kept having to push his radiotherapy treatment out until he was a lot more settled and comfortable enough to be able to lay down.  During the day I tried to ease his pain and discomfort by massaging and rubbing his back slowly, and at one point Dave muttered to me 'take this pain away'!! I think this was the last resort for Dave, he'd had enough of it all!!! It just broke my heart hearing him say that, thankfully I was standing behind him at the time rubbing his back so he didn't see my eyes all well up!!! Just heart wrenching!!!

Thankfully by about 4.00pm Dave's symptoms seem to ease off a bit so we had a window of opportunity for him to have his radiotherapy treatment.  Our specialist, Matt, also made the call to admit Dave to the Oncology ward for a couple of nights too so he could be closely monitored and be given constant meds, fluid and feed.

I was happy with that and so was Dave.  I just wanted him to feel comfortable and not distressed!!

It was getting on a bit by the time we got Dave up to the ward and settled.  I waited till they hooked him up to his feed and they gave him all his meds etc.  He was so darn tired!!  Once he was comfortable and settled I took off for the night.  It was just awful leaving him there!!!

As soon as I left the ward my tears started and didn't stop for the rest of the night!!! On the way home I just screamed at the top of my voice several times along the journey!!!! Gosh it felt good.  I would highly recommend this therapy!!! Take yourself away to a roof top, middle of a field/park, or drive your car and just let it out, scream as loud as you can as often as you need to!!!! The trip home was so hard as the tears were running down my face... the windscreen wipers were going none stop cause it was pouring down outside too, not sure how I managed to see where I was going... but thankfully I did!!! Got home and face-timed my girlfriend Annie and just bawled to her too, then managed to calm down a bit!!!  Had a hot bath a couple of cups of camomile tea, a sleeping pill and sleep.

I was good the next morning, I woke early, phoned the hospital to see how Dave was, they said good and that he was still asleep snoring!!!  His radiation appointment wasn't until 2.45pm so I thought knowing he was ok I decided to go for a walk and grab a coffee and breakfast at the club house and just gather my thoughts ready for the day ahead.  I was excited to drive in to see Dave knowing he had a good night :-)

When I arrived to see Dave, he was still fast asleep!!! When he got up for his treatment it was great seeing him look a bit fresher in the face and more awake.  He'd had a whole four bottles of feed over night, that's a total of 800mls plus all the IV fluids too.  So that was good.  The Gaviscon seems to be helping too.  Treatment was at 2.45pm, a porter came up and took Dave down in his Pjs in a wheelchair.  Straight in for treatment and straight back to the ward, no messing around.  I left around 4.30pm as heavy storms were supposed to hit us, but didn't in the end!!

so peaceful :-) 

Waiting for radiotherapy treatment...

a cheeky grin for everyone!

That evening Sue sent me a text to join them for dinner at Lyn and Michael's which was really lovely, Sue was cooking.  It was a lovely evening, but I really wasn't much company as was feeling totally exhausted and couldn't stop thinking about Dave.  I was home by 8.00pmish in my Pjs and in bed all snuggled up with a cuppa tea!! I got a surprise skype call from a dear friend of ours, Ian, in the UK which was lovely as we hadn't caught up in a long time. Popped a sleeping pill and had a good night.

Friday morning tried calling the hospital to see how Dave was but couldn't get anyone to answer!!! They must have been doing their rounds!!! So just hopped in the car and went straight in as wanted to get there before Dave's treatment at 11.30am and wanted to talk to the specialist too with Dave.   All was good and the specialist said Dave could go home which was wonderful news.

I didn't tell Dave about me screaming my head off until late on Friday when he was feeling much better!!! He just smiled at me!

Also WONDERFUL news.... Friday was Dave's last day of radiotherapy treatment too!!!! Wahoooo!!!! Happy Dance!!!!

The gladwrap or cling film as some call it in the photo above is so the mask doesn't scratch against the burns on Dave's skin.

Yahoo... final radiation session!!!! 

Dave posted the following message on Facebook...

"Thank you to my beautiful wife Suzie (Susan) for all the care and love you have provided me over the past months to help me through my treatment. It hasn't been easy for either of us but you have been my rock with your support through this time invaluable to help overcome the hurdles we've faced so far. While we still have a way to go, the worst is behind us and the future ahead is bright. I love you with all my heart. 

Thank you also to everyone for the messages of support and likes on Suzie's posts. While I haven't been able to respond to everyone, I've read every message, looked at every like and taken great strength from them all to help front the challenges we've faced. 

I've kept my mask as a reminder of those challenges and the role it has played in helping me through treatment. Thank you again, onwards and upwards from here as the road to recovery begins."

Dave also received a lovely card from our walking group on Saturday letting him know they were all thinking of him and wishing him all the best for a speedy recovery. Many thanks to everyone in the group, Dave loved the card and the wonderful thought and can't wait to join the group again once he is well enough.

Contemplation!

I asked Dave what he was thinking of doing with his mask! His answer was... unsure... may be put it in the pool room!! My girlfriend Annie said Dave should spray paint it and fix it to a piece of wood and create a piece of art out of it.  We did ask the Radiologists what others do with theirs... the feedback was, some drive over it in their cars and smash it up, others use it as a plant container...

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Our weekend was extremely quiet and relaxing.  Dave's getting into a new regime of feeding overnight and flushing via Peggy every hour or so during the day.  I'm also administering him his drugs constantly throughout the day.  Dave has to try and achieve 1,500mls of water a day on top of his 4 bottles or more of TwoCal.  Spreadsheets here I come!!! Anyone who knows me will laugh at that last comment!!

how I deliver his meds... 

Our mead wine glasses from Cornwall have come in very handy to dispense Dave's meds in... shame there's no mead wine in them though!!!

Morning

1 x thyroxine dissolved (tues&fri 1 1/2)

2 x Omeprazole dissolve in water

1 x Pramin/maxalon (nausea) (3xday or WR)

1 x zofran wafer (nausea) (3xdayWR)

1 x stemetil (prochlorperazine) (nausea) (3xday)

1 x fentanyl (abstral) tab u/tongue (pain) every 4hrsWR break through last for 30 mins

Gaviscon 20ml (4xday)

Nystatin 4 times day (thrush)

Coloxyl oral 2ml 2xday if constipated

Night

2 x Zantac effervescent in water or 1 x Ranitidine 300mg

Dave has enjoyed a weekend full of sport on the box... Ryder Cup Golf (Europe v USA), NRL grand final (Sharks v Storm), AFL grand final (Western Bulldogs v Sydney Swans) and The Rugby Championship (All Blacks v Argentina). While Dave enjoyed watching all the sport, only one of his picks won, fortunately this was the All Blacks who he is the most passionate about.

"only do what your heart tells you.".....

by Diana, Princess of Wales

xxx

Till next week, hopefully without any drama's and issues!!